. thanks for joining us for the news at noon. i'm mike hydeck. guilty. that is the plea from

jacqueline mars, the mars company co-owner charged in a crash that killed an elderly woman. >> reporter: i'm surae chinn at the loudoun county courthouse where one of the richest women in the world pleads guilty to reckless driving, a horrific tragedy she caused when she fell asleep at the wheel. 74-year-old jacqueline badger mars, co-owner ever the multibillion dollar mars candy company crashed head-on into a van full of people on the way to a wedding rehearsal dinner october 4. the deadly collision caused 86-year-old irene ellisor her life and the unborn child of a pregnant mother. the tragedy -- the families have forgiven the candy heir

and pleaded with the judge not to sentence her to jail time. >> can created a great deal of plate for our office and the family as -- family as well and the judge. >> reporter: the judge listened and did not sentence her to jail. >> what we saw here today was the -- a great moment in human forgiveness and human compassion and i thought that was really one of the nicer things you see out of a case as tragic as this one. >> reporter: the accident happened on route 350 in aldie, virginia. the commonwealth's attorney jim plowman says the crime reflected a reckless driving charge and did not rise to the level of manslaughter. mars says she will live every day with the grief, loss and regret of this tragedy. the judge fined her $2500 and suspended her driver's license for six months. at the loudoun county courthouse in leesburg, surae chinn, wusa9. >> mars had met with the

victim's family before and after her sentence. the beleaguered mayor robert ford of toronto made his debut on wjfk radio this morning. he again nye add new report -- deny add new report linking him to drug dealers. a report says ford offered $5,000 and a car to drug dealers in exchange for a video that showed him smoking crack. the mayor who has been stripped of basically most of his power was on jjfk to -- wjfk to talk football and make predictions. he picked the redskins to beat the chiefs on sunday. an arctic blast with bitter cold temperatures is on its way eastward. the massive storm has dumped more than 2 feet of snow in minnesota. marley hall has a closer look at the winter weather. >> reporter: snow is boiling up -- snow is piling up as the storm moves across the country's midsection and frigid temperatures are spreading from the west coast to the great lakes. >> i have four layers on. three hats. >> reporter: in denver, the

salvation army patrolled the city to get homeless people out of the treacherous cold. overnight temperatures are dropping below zero. >> these sorts of nights don't happen a lot but when we get cold snaps like this it's very dangerous. >> reporter: it's so dangerous road crews are using liquid deicers to keep roads safe. >> basically we put it down and it has the potential to refreeze. >> reporter: a massive storm system has dumped more than 2 feet of snow in the deluth area. at least five people have died in weatr-related accidents in minnesota since monday. >> people seem to be driving slowly but you always see people going too fast for the conditions and then there's an accident and that clogs everything up. >> reporter: people in parts of texas, oklahoma and arkansas are gearing up for an ice storm today. that forecast -- forecasters say that could cause travel delays and power outages. marley hall for cbs news. >> the winter weather is not just hitting the places you would expect it to be cold. in gilroy, california, there's a freeze warning in effect forcing growers there to

scramble trying to protect their crops. well, fast food workers in dozens of cities are trading in their aprons for protest signs today. demonstrators say they cannot survive on a national minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and they want it more than doubled to $15 an hour. danielle nottingham has more on the day the workers are now taking a stand. >> reporter: demonstrators protested outside a manhattan mcdonald's calling for higher wages. fast food employees across the country are walking off the job. they want a big raise, $15 an hour, more than twice the national minimum wage of $7.25. workers say they cannot survive on their current pay. >> it's not enough to take care of the basic needs which is gas, rent, medical bills. >> reporter: organizers say today's walkout is part of a movement to get more money for all low-wage workers from retail employees to warehouse

workers. and the protesters appear to have an ally in the white house. president obama is renewing his call to raise the minimum wage. >> making sure our economy works for every working american. >> reporter: the national restaurant association says most fast food workers are happy and labor unions are staining these demonstrations. >> you cannot be an employee and be demanding salary based on your needs. salaries have to be based on the economy and what the economy in the area can bear. >> reporter: organizers say they are planning more protests in the future. danielle nottingham, cbs news, washington. >> well, the stars sure came out last night in rockefeller center. the christmas tree is now in place. mayor michael bloomberg turned on the lights that illuminated a dazzling display of 45,000 multicolored led lights. it's a 76-foot spruce tree from connecticut. it is part of a ceremony that dates back to 1933. this tree you see here will be

on display till january 7. afterward it is will be milled into lumber and it will be donated to habitat for humanity. the holiday decorations are up inside the white house. first lady michele obama helped usher in the christmas season with the help of members of the military. but the event will be remembered by some for the behavior of the first pooches. beau and sonny. sonny encountered 2-year-old crystyn at the ceremony. she was fine. her parents took in in stride. >> he hit me and bumped me. >> she is fine. she is an alabama-text girl. alabama dad, texas mom. so we recover quick. >> she's tough. that's right. the first lady tugged sonny's leash and tried to remain composed. she was unfazed by the knockdown. she tried to feed the white

house's -- she even tried to feed beau candy. saying grace sold for a record $46 million at sotheby's auction on wednesday. the selling price was nearly three times higher than the previous auction record for a late artist. saying grace as you see right there feature as boy praying with an elderly woman in a crowded restaurant. it originally appeared on the thk issue cover of the saturday evening post in 19 -- [indiscernible] it was part of seven of rockwell's works that were for sale. two of them the gossips and walking to church sold for a total of nearly $12 million. that's a lot of money. south by ease will also be auctioning off -- sotheby's will also be auctioning off an early hit of one of bruce springsteen's early hits. the lyric sheet of born to run will be auctioned off expected to fetch between $70,000 and

$100,000. still ahead on the news on wusa9, heisman hopeful james winston is just hours away from learning his legal fate. details coming up. after they suffered a large

an american teacher was shot to death this morning in lybia. the man is believed to be a texas native. >> reporter: the international school in benghazi tells cbs news american chemistry teacher ronald smith was shot and killed while jogging thursday morning. smith who was reportedly from texas described himself as libya's best friend on his twitter account where these photos are posted. no one has claimed responsibility for his murder in the eastern libyan city of benghazi but suspicion will

likely fall on islamic militants. smith was reportedly running near the u.s. consulate when he was gunned down. that's where terrorists killed ambassador christopher stevens and three other americans last september. smith was one of four people killed in benghazi thursday. a spokesman at the school where smith taught described him as a great guy. when classes end next week, he was reportedly planning to fly to the u.s. for the holidays. tina krause, cbs news. florida state quarterback james winston will learn his legal fate. the state attorney will announce the results of an intensive investigation into sexual assault allegations against the freshman. the alleged incident happened nearly a year ago but it wasn't until last month that tallahassee police finally turned over the information about the case to prosecutors. the state's attorney is scheduled a 2:00 p.m. news conference to announce the findings. the salvation army says there has been a major outpouring of support after

someone stole $10,000 from its offices in southeast washington recently. police do have some surveillance video of the robbers but they are still at large at this point. they cleaned out a safe and a bunch of the red kettles you see smashed right there from the solomon g. brown corpse community center -- corps community center. the salvation army has received donations totaling $48,000 just since the theft. that sum does not include more money collected by the bell ringers. erica? mike, it is beautiful out here right now. a little bit of a breeze. a little bit of sunshine. and some really mild temperatures. it's about 10 to 15 degrees warmer right now than it was at this time yesterday. but these temperatures are not going to last forever. we have a big change in the first alert seven-day forecast. i'm tell you about the possibility of wintry

between you know there were 49 varieties of poinsettias? i had no include. well, a little tender loving care when you boy yours this -- buy yours this year will make them last a lot longer. 49 varieties. if you're just standing here, you can see. see how some of these have a white streak in them. is this a different kind completely? is it called something different? >> that's the ice punch point set ya. it's been widely popular. nothing is more popular than the red but we grow some different pinks, whites. >> do you dye those to make them white? >> they're just different

genetics. we did 49. we'll look at what performs best and choose what we do again next year. >> we all try to keep our plants alive. i'm terrible at that. what are the secrets to make it last through the holiday and maybe longer. >> they don't appreciate drafts hot or cold. you don't want to put them by a door. they'll -- you don't want to put them where they'll get a lot of wind or near a heating vent. the best way to tell if you need to water it is feel the soil. stick your finger down in. these are obviously damp but if you start to feel it a little bit drier, that's when you want to water. >> people love to bring them home. do they survive outside or no? >> no, not in the mid-atlantic. they're a tropical plant. they originated in mexico. >> the other thing i learned from you in the break is you have to change the lighting in the room to actually make them turn red, right? >> in nature they require 12 to 14 hours a day of darkness to bloom. what we do starting in the fall

is cover our greenhouses with a black tarp and give them the darkness so we have the holiday poinsettia. >> how long do you have to keep them in the dark? >> they would have been started probably the end of august. about a three-month period. >> wow, no kidding. if people love the way they look and want to buy them from you, where do they find them? >> we're only at home depot. we grow them locally. all of these were grown in maryland or virginia. lots of gift ideas whether you want to use them for yourself in your home or give them away. we have upgraded a lot of our containers this year so you can see this green tin is nicer than the typical soil. i put that birch pot over here to show you. and we've got some plants in that around here but these are just awesome. super rustic. i love it and want to use them again next year. put the tropicals around your house in that. >> great to meet you. thanks for coming in. 49 kinds of these, erica. did you know that? >> i had no idea but i always love to have poinsettias in my

home during the christmas season. it just makes things feel nice and festive. we're taking a look with the michael & son weather cam, a milky sky, some sunshine starting to peer through the clouds so eight bright, cloudy afternoon for us. 65 degrees by 3:00 p.m. temperatures way above average. 63 is where we'll be at 6:00. a few sprinkles are possible as you're heading home from work but for most of us it's going to be completely dry. just cloudy but mild. it's already 64 in manassas. 62348 culpeper and orange -- 68 in culpeper and orange. these are your noon temperatures in december. mild out there. 51 frederick and even in gaithersburg it's 63 degrees. you can see here on satellite and radar the rain is mostly moving from southwest to northeast which is why we don't expect this line to arrive during the day today. a few of these showers might clip southern maryland moving into the delmarva peninsula. you can see that on 9 futurecast. most of the rain showers really leaving us behind as we head into the evening hours, just

clouds, a few little pockets of sprinkles might pop up as i mentioned before during the evening rush but here comes the leading edge of the rage as you're watching topper give you the forecast tonight. the rain will start to move through during the overnight. by the time you're heading out the door on friday morning, that's when we'll have the bulk of the rain, especially for the beltway and points east. so this will be a concern for your travels on friday morning and then heading into the afternoon, a break in the action. just some sprinkles but more rain will be on the way for the afternoon and evening commute on friday. so it looks like it's going to be an unsettled end to the workweek. forecast highs for today 67 for your high in manassas. 65 in leesburg. we'll get up to 66 in winchester. 70 in luray. and 65 at andrews. overnight tonight temperatures really not falling off very much. down into the 50s. that's it. 58 in leesburg. 56 in gaithersburg. 52 in winchester. 62 for overnight lows in both

culpeper and orange. now, tomorrow that's the transition day when the cold front is moving through. so we're going to see that potential for rain just as we're wanting to watch the tree lighting as the president and his family will be lighting the tree. 50 degrees with a chance for some showers. north winds bringing in that cooler air mass. and over the next three days, looks like friday will be the worst day. showers likely. it's a yellow alert day. a high of 60 degrees but that will be early in the day and then temperatures falling and then it will be breezy and colder on saturday with a high of 46. in the first alert seven-day forecast, the worst day is definitely sunday. that's when we're looking for the wintry mix and we could actually get a light slushy accumulation before the change over to rain. a high of only 36 degrees. so it's going to be a messy day for the eagles -- i'm sorry, for the redskins game. for the ravens game. for all of that activity. then we're going to get warmer on monday before our next cooler blast arrives. it is petline time.

and we are here with gavin who is an honorary cocker spaniel. he's here from the cocker spaniel rescue. this is jim. thank so you much for bringing gavin in. he's such a good boy. he's been very quiet and very patient as he was waiting for his turn on the newscast. >> he's a wonderful boy. he's 5 or 6 years old, a mix who came from southern virginia. they insisted we take him and we do take honorary cokers as we call -- cockers as we call them. a sweet, wonderful boy. >> you brought me in a calendar. do you want to tell me anything about the calendar that you brought? >> oh, yeah. we have -- one of our fund- raisers is our cocker spaniel calendar 2014. it's on sale on our website. >> cocker spaniel rescue.com. easy to remember. >> and at our adoption shows. it's part of our fund raising efforts. >> thank you so much, jim.

thank you, gavin.

welcome back. we're going to have fun with two young ladies. cooking with the saints. we'll explain that in a moment. they are here from the catholic church in chang tilly. they're going to -- chantilly. they're going to teach a lot of people how to make terrific desserts for the holiday season. what are these? >> these are mexican wedding cakes. they're usually baked during christmas. even though they're called cakes, they're actually cookies. >> they are actually cookies. they look great and they smell good, too. the thing you're doing at your church is for what reason? >> we're doing cooking class on

december 7 to honor our lady of guadalupe. >> the cooking classes, people come and pay how much and what else will you get a chance to do while you're there? >> they pay $15 to cover ingredients and they come and we make main courses. we make desserts and side dishes from mexico. >> and it's this saturday from noon until 3:30 but you guys do this every month. >> yes. >> when people want to come, when they get there, do they have to be there right by noon? >> they can come whenever they want but it's best to come at the beginning. >> do you know what else you're making? you're making other dishes too, right? >> yes. we're making a bean dish i know and a rice dish. >> so you can come and learn how to cook from you ladies. are there going to be other young people? all ages helping everybody cook? >> all ages. >> fantastic. can i taste one? >> sure. >> this is fantastic. wedding cake, this saturday, noon to 3:00.

they will teach you how to do this. we really appreciate it. they sponsored this segment. the poinsettia segment was sponsored by bell nursery. we're glad you're able it join us here at noon. that will be it for us at noon. join us this afternoon at 5:00 and tomorrow morning at 4:25. have a great day, everybody.

>> nikki: well, your father left for work a while ago. >> victoria: i thought i would catch him here. he wants to throw kyle into the mix at the new lifestyles division. he wants me to try to incorporate his marketing concepts, which i don't have a problem with. it's just that, you know, i want to expand on it, and i need dad's approval before i can move forward, and i can't -- >> nikki: honey, honey, honey... slow down. >> victoria: i'm so sorry. i just... ugh. sometimes, this job makes me want to rip my hair out. [ exhales sharply ] >> nikki: you sure it's just the job? >> victoria: what else would it be? [ knock on door ] [ knocking continues ] >> billy: hold on.